The frustration was that there was just no confidence on the ball. Apart from the four at the back, everyone else was trying to get rid of it as soon as they got it. I didn't see a single attempt to take on an opposing player 1 v 1 in attack, or even chance a gap but it was our midfield that I found even more disappointing. So many directionless forward balls when holding possession was the better option. Saying all that, the Swiss tactics were sound as they knew if they sat back we had no firepower to throw at them.
I watch 6 minutes on you tube on wally Lewis on 60 minutes..I couldn’t watch any more it was too sad for me ..I brought up on the 8os ..and I watch the king for all those years .. who destroy my teams like the kiwis and NSW .. then I thought about all the men who have suffer in the last 15 years who I watch as a child ..it’s very frighting .. I’m glad I gave up rugby during my uni days .. not because I love the game but because it’s very brutal game ..I was only 69 kg .. lucky I only suffered one broken finger and got knock out twice .. .. when you see heroes suffering from head knocks.. you do think to your self is it worth the money and fame ..
About the women’s football team no surprise they didn’t make it out of the pool .. hardly surprising about the lack of goals ..when you watch the Germany and Columbia game last night ..compare to our girls .. you realised how far we got to go with our strikers .. we just don’t have the players .. hopefully in the next 10 years .. nz football can developed world class goal scores .. in mens and women ..when I really think about it since the 8os . We only developed two world class strikers .Winton and wood .. there is your problem .. I know when I was coaching soccer at uni .. lot of the training was on the triangle ..keeping possession.. prefer to see more flair to our style ..
don’t have the answers why we can’t develop World class scores ..hopefully the milly cleggs of this world will give us hope ..
Think our chances in the World Cup netball just took a massive hit ..my money is on Australia.. boo
Nice pot pouri Dylan, a few bits there that piqued my interest:
Football Ferns - inevitable they dropped out, lacking in the class needed to progress. You mentioned Stuff, I think their “football” writers are just as confused as their rugby writers. They got very carried away by the whole thing, but I don’t think they even bothered to check whether the Football Ferns were any good, but then again quality journalism hasn’t been their game for a few years now....
Scott Barrett - I quite enjoyed the shush tbh. Nick White has a big mouth on him and a reasonable game to back it up. It was reminiscent of James Anderson shushing Mitchell Johnson in the Ashes, I don’t want to spoil the party for those who haven’t seen it - check it out on YT
Stuart Broad - interesting cricketer. watched him pretty closely this Ashes. Didn’t realise how proficiently he can swing it both ways, has been overshadowed by Anderson in that regard. But show pony for me but great competitor. Bit of “what if” about his batting too, early days he looked to have genuine all rounder potential but that conk on the head did him in. And his only 100 against a Pakistan attack that was exposed for fixing shortly after....
I don't know who Philip Rollo is, but I doff my cap to him. Having watched a lot of the coverage of the Football Ferns' World Cup, there has been a lot of happy clappy 'gee aren't they super' puff piecery and very little depth on why they could and should be through to the knockouts in their own tournament. And when you say 'gee that's got to hurt to read that', isn't that a good thing, as long as it is balanced and reasoned? I have two young girls and expose them to as much women's sport at all levels as I can (can't be what you can't see etc), which more and more is something I'm able to do through SKY's increased commitment, good numbers at grassroots etc. I've often thought as women's sport aims itself towards the sort of exposure/renumeration/general equity men's sport gets, it has to take the whole package...the vitriol, the criticism, all the other stuff that gets fans truly invested. I find it incredibly hard to buy in to this World Cup campaign when the extent of analysis is 'they did the best they've ever done!' as opposed to 'they scored one goal in 3 games and lost to a country ranked somewhere just above Brunei and Liechtenstein.
I have enjoyed our times when we've performed well at football but I long ago accepted it is not a game we will probably ever perform consistently at a high level. Domestic leagues are weak, number of players off shore playing at the highest level is low and our inability to arrange quality matches in international windows is extremely frustrating. We punch above our weight in many sports, football just ain't it for us.
The frustration was that there was just no confidence on the ball. Apart from the four at the back, everyone else was trying to get rid of it as soon as they got it. I didn't see a single attempt to take on an opposing player 1 v 1 in attack, or even chance a gap but it was our midfield that I found even more disappointing. So many directionless forward balls when holding possession was the better option. Saying all that, the Swiss tactics were sound as they knew if they sat back we had no firepower to throw at them.
I watch 6 minutes on you tube on wally Lewis on 60 minutes..I couldn’t watch any more it was too sad for me ..I brought up on the 8os ..and I watch the king for all those years .. who destroy my teams like the kiwis and NSW .. then I thought about all the men who have suffer in the last 15 years who I watch as a child ..it’s very frighting .. I’m glad I gave up rugby during my uni days .. not because I love the game but because it’s very brutal game ..I was only 69 kg .. lucky I only suffered one broken finger and got knock out twice .. .. when you see heroes suffering from head knocks.. you do think to your self is it worth the money and fame ..
About the women’s football team no surprise they didn’t make it out of the pool .. hardly surprising about the lack of goals ..when you watch the Germany and Columbia game last night ..compare to our girls .. you realised how far we got to go with our strikers .. we just don’t have the players .. hopefully in the next 10 years .. nz football can developed world class goal scores .. in mens and women ..when I really think about it since the 8os . We only developed two world class strikers .Winton and wood .. there is your problem .. I know when I was coaching soccer at uni .. lot of the training was on the triangle ..keeping possession.. prefer to see more flair to our style ..
don’t have the answers why we can’t develop World class scores ..hopefully the milly cleggs of this world will give us hope ..
Think our chances in the World Cup netball just took a massive hit ..my money is on Australia.. boo
Nice pot pouri Dylan, a few bits there that piqued my interest:
Football Ferns - inevitable they dropped out, lacking in the class needed to progress. You mentioned Stuff, I think their “football” writers are just as confused as their rugby writers. They got very carried away by the whole thing, but I don’t think they even bothered to check whether the Football Ferns were any good, but then again quality journalism hasn’t been their game for a few years now....
Scott Barrett - I quite enjoyed the shush tbh. Nick White has a big mouth on him and a reasonable game to back it up. It was reminiscent of James Anderson shushing Mitchell Johnson in the Ashes, I don’t want to spoil the party for those who haven’t seen it - check it out on YT
Stuart Broad - interesting cricketer. watched him pretty closely this Ashes. Didn’t realise how proficiently he can swing it both ways, has been overshadowed by Anderson in that regard. But show pony for me but great competitor. Bit of “what if” about his batting too, early days he looked to have genuine all rounder potential but that conk on the head did him in. And his only 100 against a Pakistan attack that was exposed for fixing shortly after....
I don't know who Philip Rollo is, but I doff my cap to him. Having watched a lot of the coverage of the Football Ferns' World Cup, there has been a lot of happy clappy 'gee aren't they super' puff piecery and very little depth on why they could and should be through to the knockouts in their own tournament. And when you say 'gee that's got to hurt to read that', isn't that a good thing, as long as it is balanced and reasoned? I have two young girls and expose them to as much women's sport at all levels as I can (can't be what you can't see etc), which more and more is something I'm able to do through SKY's increased commitment, good numbers at grassroots etc. I've often thought as women's sport aims itself towards the sort of exposure/renumeration/general equity men's sport gets, it has to take the whole package...the vitriol, the criticism, all the other stuff that gets fans truly invested. I find it incredibly hard to buy in to this World Cup campaign when the extent of analysis is 'they did the best they've ever done!' as opposed to 'they scored one goal in 3 games and lost to a country ranked somewhere just above Brunei and Liechtenstein.
I have enjoyed our times when we've performed well at football but I long ago accepted it is not a game we will probably ever perform consistently at a high level. Domestic leagues are weak, number of players off shore playing at the highest level is low and our inability to arrange quality matches in international windows is extremely frustrating. We punch above our weight in many sports, football just ain't it for us.